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When most people think about The Birth of a Nation (1915), they talk about the film’s negative portrayal of African-Americans and its heroic depictions of the Ku Klux Klan—and rightly so. D.W. Griffith’s Civil War epic is one of the most despicable movies ever made. But in addition to its racist legacy, The Birth of a Nation is often hailed as one of the most important movies ever made.

In 1998, the American Film Institute declared Birth as the 44th greatest American movie ever made. Roger Ebert added the picture to his list of “Great Films,” and Birth makes every single edition of 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. So why are critics and filmmakers so enamored with such a racist film? Well, because The Birth of a Nation totally revolutionized the cinematic landscape.

As Roger Ebert explains in his Birth of a Nation essay, Griffith essentially codified the “language of cinema.” Basically, the way we traditionally make movies today—the way we construct them, shoot them, edit them—can all be traced back to this 1915 silent film. When he sat down in his director’s chair, Griffith drew on his past experience and knowledge of cinema to incorporate a wide variety of techniques that would forever alter how movies are made.

For example, The Birth of a Nation was the first film to have its own original score, and it was the first time anyone in the movie business ever used nighttime photography. Cinematographer Billy Bitzer accomplished this feat by firing magnesium flares into the night sky and then quickly turning on his cameras. Birth was also the first film to use hundreds of extras to create exciting battle scenes. As the BBC points out, modern-day movies like Braveheart (1995) and The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) are simply taking a page out of the D.W. Griffith playbook.

Perhaps more importantly, D.W. Griffith perfected a whole host of techniques that we take for granted today. As film historian Tom Doherty explains, while Griffith didn’t invent the dissolve, the flashback, or the close-up, he was the first director to use these tricks to their full potential. Seriously, can you imagine watching a movie without a close-up on the lead actor’s face? Or can you imagine living in a world where the audience can’t jump back in time to witness a past event? Pre-Griffith, these techniques were pretty much unheard of. Post-Griffith, they’ve become the norm.

The Birth of a Nation also implemented a whole host of innovative concepts like the panning shot and the high-angle shot. (For a complete list of Birth’s achievements, check out this extensive list by film critic Tim Dirks.) Griffith was basically the cinematic equivalent of a skilled chef, a cook who mixes a wide variety of ingredients together, blending them together in such a way that audiences left theaters with their mouths agape and their minds blown.

But perhaps Griffith’s most noticeable contribution to cinema was his mastery of parallel editing. Now, like many other techniques made famous by The Birth of a Nation, Griffith didn’t invent parallel editing, but he used it to such great effect that it became a permanent film fixture.

Basically, parallel editing is cutting back and forth between two different scenes that are happening at the same time but in different locations. Take the film’s climax for example as we watch the black soldiers attack a cabin full of white people. Then suddenly, Griffith cuts to the “heroic” Klansmen as they gallop to the rescue, ratcheting up the tension. Then, adding to the suspense, he cuts back to the cabin to show us the bad guys breaking down the door…and then back to the Klansmen as they ride up, guns a-blazing.

Admittedly, it’s an incredibly troubling moment, but Griffith’s parallel editin set the standard for countless action movies and chase scenes to come. Think about the finale of The Matrix (1999), the baptism scene in The Godfather (1972), the multiple fight scenes in Inception (2010), or the three-way climax of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). Despite the film’s vehement racism, it’s hard to deny The Birth of a Nation’s impact on the art of filmmaking. It’s a film that definitely deserves our disgust…as well as our respect.